MY EXPERIENCE WITH TECH CONFUSION-Note to Microsoft

I am writing this because I am often thought of as an "expert" and I am a teacher of how to use technology. However, my business is called "I'm not a Geek.com" for a reason. There are times when I am amazed at how frustrating technology can be and think that if it is frustrating for me it must be 10 times as frustrating for other people I work with.


Dear Microsoft, 

A week or so ago I paid for MS Office 365. I downloaded and installed it to my computers both Mac and PC. Then I ran out of time, so that is as far as I got.

Today I needed to open something that was a Word document, so when I clicked on the Word icon (assuming I would be able to use it because it was already paid for, downloaded and installed),  the Word program tried to open for the first time. It asked me for a username and password. Right away I realized that I would not remember what password I put in, so instead of guessing and losing time trying to figure it out I put in my email address and chose "forgot my password".

I only had a certain amount of time before I had to be somewhere and things got muddled. It said that it was going to send me a code but somehow when the code finally came to my email, I could not find the window that I needed to put the code into. The window I was seeing said that there was no account with my email. I tried two other emails (one active and one old and closed) and they all said the same thing. I had to leave it to try again later and I never was able to open the program.

Now I am trying to open it again and it is taking forever. I put in my email address and this time right away it said that it had sent a code to my email. It took a minute, but I copied it and pasted it into the right space and it told me to create a new password, so I did and then it told me that I do not have MS Office 365 and so I need to pay for it or I can try it for free for a month.

Why is this so HARD.  I have already paid my $$$$$. I know it might be user error, but it is so frustrating and I feel so stupid. 

Here I go again with my other active email.

It worked. But both times I had to type in those weird long capcha codes. I understand the need for them, but they do add to the frustration because they are hard to read. 

It turns out that I signed up for it with my work email. Who knows what password I used?  For some strange reason Dashlane (my password manager that usually saves me lots of time) did not save the password and so it did not Auto-enter it. MS Word was going from the program into a website, but I do not know what website, so I don't know the URL. I guess this has something to do with Office 365 using the cloud. It is possible that my Dashlane did not register the URL because it was not from a website.

Then when it finally opened up it needed TWO updates which took a while. aaaaaugh. Then in order for the update to be complete I had to close Word. 

No wonder clients of mine are frustrated and confused when using the computer!!  I am guessing that the designers of MS products are high level users and they skip steps because the steps make sense to them and they think that people do not need them.

I can eventually figure this out…. but it frustrates me. Many of my clients cannot figure these things out and so after paying $99 for software and downloading it (which is huge, by the way) they give up when trying to open it!!

Microsoft you may need to employ some really basic users to give you advice on your error messages and processes for setting up passwords and that sort of thing.

Sincerely, Janice- I'm not a Geek.com

5 Tips for Frustrated Teachers

We are starting into October and school has been going a while. My teacher friends are tired and stressed. Using technology is tough when you are feeling that way. Here are a few tips:

 

Here are five tips for dealing with classroom technology

1. ENHANCE YOUR LESSONS: Only use technology when it enhances or adds something of value to your lessons. If students are writing book reports have them record their voices and listen to themselves while editing what they have written.  Technology should not distract from learning. PowerPoint can be a good example of this. It can be more of a distraction from what the students really need to be learning than an enhancement. The bells and whistles can detract from what is important to learn.
2. ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN B: Make sure that you can easily go back to the non technology way of doing things if the network is down or if all of the laptops seem to be acting up. (Also trust your kids, sometimes it is easy for them to figure out something that seems impossible to you.)
3. BABY STEPS: Every school year take on at least one challenge for yourself in using technology.  You do not have to teach every subject and every lesson with technology, but you do need to keep stretching yourself and using more.
4. LEARN FROM EACH OTHER: Collaboration is the key with using technology. Learn from what other teachers in your school are doing or if there is no one else in your school or grade level sign on to Twitter and find like-minded teachers to learn from in 140 characters or less!
5. DON’T FORCE IT:  I have learned the hard way that if something is not working it is much better to just quit, relax and try it again later when I am not feeling frustrated. OFTEN things work the second time after I and the computer have cooled down.

 

Not only are you being irresponsible as a teacher if you are not using technology, you are also hurting yourself. I know many teachers who were ready to quit, but technology brought new life into their teaching. Try it! It can be fun!

Thanks to http://www.seemsartless.com/index.php?pic=1565 for the photo.